No matter what industry you are in, you need the best business intelligence possible if you are to make the best decisions. Improving their business intelligence has been a goal for many organizations in recent years, but too often, their efforts come up short. Sometimes the problem lies with the time it can take to develop a solution to answer important questions; by the time development is complete, the questions are no longer pertinent due to changes in the market or company goals. At other times, efforts to leverage big data result in more data but less ability to conduct analytics. Still other companies try to collect more intelligence by increasing the marketing budget to cover the costs of more surveys or focus groups. In the end, the most companies trying these methods end up with more expenses and no improvements in their business intelligence.
When building a better business intelligence system, the focus should be on the last word in the phrase — system. You do not need more databases or bigger databases. You need a better system. If you are serious about increasing your business intelligence maturity, the following tips might help.
- Align your business strategy with your IT strategy. Your IT needs to be cost-efficient and agile, but it is easy to lose sight of the fact that IT exists to support your business goals.
- Embrace systems integration to reduce redundant or time-consuming tasks and get all departments “on the same page.” You cannot make sound decisions without timely, accurate information. If different departments are asserting ownership over data or your system does not allow the right people to access the data, you could be getting inaccurate information or receiving the information too late for it to be relevant.
- Make the most of your data. Data can provide valuable insights, but too many analytics systems fall short of delivering true value to the end users. Revamp your queries if necessary and fill in the gaps they exist in your underlying data.
Improving your business intelligence system can pay handsome dividends. If you would like to discuss the issue in greater detail, please call PhaseAlpha at (913) 648-9200 or send an email to info@phasealpha.com.